Clear Admithttps://www.clearadmit.com
The Leading Independent Resource for Top-tier MBA CandidatesThu, 17 Aug 2017 21:26:20 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1https://www.clearadmit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ca-logo-square-40x40.pngClear Admithttps://www.clearadmit.com
3232128151064Michigan Ross EMBAs Create Successful Subscription Box Businesshttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/michigan-ross-embas-create-successful-subscription-box-business/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/michigan-ross-embas-create-successful-subscription-box-business/#respondThu, 17 Aug 2017 18:00:38 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464828In recent years, the subscription box business has boomed. From Blue Apron for food delivery to the Dollar Shave Club for men and women’s grooming, there’s a way to get anything you want in a box delivered on schedule every month or week. And now there are two more subscription box options—Proudbox and CraftX—thanks to a few enterprising University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive MBA (EMBA) graduates.

Proudbox

Developed by Carrie Thorpe, an ’16 EMBA graduate, Proudbox is a monthly subscription box for anyone who loves the University of Michigan. The concept is “Michigan Pride Delivered Monthly,” and each delivery provides clothing, gifts, and treats for Wolverine fans and students.

The key to success for Thorpe is found within the contents of her boxes. “You have to be careful that you really deliver an authentic experience,” Thorpe said in a blog post. “Anyone can throw a bunch of stuff in a box and ship it out. You have to think of the person receiving it.”

For Proudbox, the contents are all about making an emotional connection with Michigan fans. Thorpe fell in love with the University of Michigan when she came to Ann Arbor to earn her MBA, and she figured that other individuals would feel the same way. “I simply looked at what was happening in the market and applied it in an area it was not being applied,” she said. “It almost felt like the idea developed itself. It just made such good sense.”

Thorpe got help developing her idea from Len Middleton, her ExecMAP mentor, and the Zell Lurie Institute. They helped her think through her concept, determine how to turn a profit, and develop packaging, color, feel, design, placement, notes, and merchandise to make her subscription boxes a success. And so far it’s worked.

Already, Proudbox has expanded to also offer Michigan State merchandise, and she hopes to add a third Big 10 school this fall before eventually expanding to the entire league.

CraftX

Developed by Steve Ezell, Ted Hamory, and Jordan Toplitzky—who met at Ross’s EMBA program in Los Angeles—CraftX is a monthly subscription box service dedicated to the craft beer boom. The idea was developed as part of an ExecMAP project, a rich immersion course where teams of students apply critical thinking to solve a complex issue for a corporate sponsor.

The CraftX team completed a feasibility study about whether a beer delivery service could turn a profit and help small craft brewers at the same time. They found beer membership services currently on offer disappointing, and they determined they could do better.

So, they set up a model where they worked directly with brewers, committing to buying a certain amount of product to reduce their risk. Then, they decided that each box would feature two specific brewers and give the consumer a choice of beer style.

As for how they choose the brewers, Ezell explained the process in a blog: “We want people who are dedicated to the craft,” he said. “We want to go for the underdogs.”

And so far, their plan is going well. “I think we’re in a good spot. I think it’s cool to see this come out of the EMBA program,” Ezell said.

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/michigan-ross-embas-create-successful-subscription-box-business/feed/046482820 Days to Go: Harvard Business School Round 1 Deadlinehttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/20-days-go-harvard-business-school-round-1-deadline/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/20-days-go-harvard-business-school-round-1-deadline/#respondThu, 17 Aug 2017 17:05:26 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464889Attention all applicants, the Harvard Business SchoolRound 1 Deadline of September 6, 2017 is just a mere 20 days away!

Need help with your HBS application?

Clear Admit has all the news, resources, and advice to make sure your application is as strong as possible!

1. Our detailed Essay Topic Analysis, which is great if you are just beginning to tackle your essays, is also great if you have nearly finished and want a fresh perspective and make sure you have addressed all the touch points.

2. Our thorough Clear Admit School Guide, which includes an in-depth side-by-side comparison of Harvard and its peer institutions. The guide includes figures to illustrate how HBS compares to its peers, for example:

3. For preparing for the HBS interview, our interview archive includes many examples of interviews from previous MBA candidates which include many of the questions from which you can prepare. You can also turn to our Clear Admit Interview Guides for further insight. Of course once your interview is complete, we would love it if you submitted your own first-hand report.

Key features of the HBS interview include: it is non-blind, your interviewer will have read your application and use it as a basis for questions, and Harvard will ask you after the interview to follow up within 24 hours.

4. Join the conversation on MBA ApplyWire for those who are fine-tuning their applications to Harvard, and share thoughts and ideas.

And, remember, as you go about the admissions process at your target schools, you can review and update MBA LiveWire at each step of the process to see real-time admissions decisions come in as applicants apply, receive notifications, and interview invites. And once you decide where you’re going to enroll in 2018, share that good news with the rest of the Clear Admit community on MBA DecisionWire.

Have you seen “re-tweetable” tweets in your feed this week? E-mail info@clearadmit.com with your recommendations for what breaking MBA news we should cover next.

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/top-mba-tweets-week-charlottesville/feed/0464872CEO Activism? Biz Leaders Tell Trump Enough Is Enoughhttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/ceo-activism-biz-leaders-tell-trump-enough-enough/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/ceo-activism-biz-leaders-tell-trump-enough-enough/#respondWed, 16 Aug 2017 21:09:14 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464855President Donald Trump got elected—in part—because he represented a break from traditional Washington politics that had left many frustrated and disillusioned. A businessman who’d made billions in real estate, he prided himself on being able to close deals.

He quickly set out to surround himself with business-minded folks like himself, establishing the Strategy & Policy Forum and Manufacturing Council soon after taking office. These two groups drew together dozens of prominent CEOs to advise him on a range of issues in his new role.

Twenty-four preeminent heads of manufacturing—including companies as varied as Intel, Under Armour, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Campbell’s Soup—met with Trump in February to discuss manufacturing issues. Many continued to stand with Trump even as he increasingly took controversial positions on issues like immigration and the Paris climate accord—challenging some council members’ personal beliefs, business objectives, or both.

But it took Charlottesville—or, more specifically, Trump’s response in which he suggested that white nationalist hate groups and the anti-racism and anti-fascism protesters who opposed them were equally to blame—for the business leaders to finally state clearly and en masse that they were no longer standing with Trump.

The First Domino to Fall
Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier, the only African-American on the manufacturing council, resigned on Monday, stating, “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry, and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal. As CEO of Merck, and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”

Following Frazier’s lead, seven other manufacturing council members also resigned over the next two days: Brian Krzanich of Intel, Kevin Plank of Under Armour, Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Richard Trumka and Thea Lee of the AFL-CIO, Inge Thulin of 3M, and Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup.

Meanwhile, the Business & Strategy Forum, a second strategic council assembled by Trump and made up of some of the nation’s most powerful corporate giants, today reached a decision to disband. “The thinking was it was important to do as a group,” a member of the advisory council told CNBC. “As a panel, not as individuals because it would have more significant impact. It makes a central point that it’s not going to go forward. It’s done.”

According to the CNBC report, the council member said that the decision to dissolve the council was in order to “condemn” the president’s comments about the Charlottesville violence. Employees and customers have also made their views clear to the advisory council members. “There really was nothing to debate,” the member told CNBC.

The strategic forum, distinct from the manufacturing council, was led by Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and included more than a dozen prominent CEOs, among them General Motor’s Mary Barra, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boston Consulting Group’s Rich Lesser, Wal-Mart’s Doug McMillon, PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, and IBM’s Ginni Rometty.

The strategic forum released an official statement, after the disbandment had already been announced by several news outlets, that its members and the president jointly reached the decision to disband.

Trump then took to Twitter to say that he was ending both councils. “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!” read his 1:14 p.m. tweet.

Business School Professors, Deans Take Note
Not surprisingly, business school professors are already weighing in. Professor Aaron Chatterji of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business studies CEO activism, among other things. On Monday, when only Frazier had resigned, he shared the following on his LinkedIn page:

In a follow-up post yesterday, he wrote this:

Fuqua Dean Bill Boulding, who also writes regularly about CEO activism, chimed in as well on this most recent controversy. “Unquestionably, CEOs would prefer to remain silent. But at what point do they feel the risks of silence outweighs the risk of taking a public stance?” he said in an interview with CNN Money. CEOs have to think about both their customers and their employees and the risks involved in being too closely linked to such a controversial president whose policies and comments leave many feeling under attack.

5. We welcome any additional information you feel the committee may find relevant in reference to this candidate’s application for graduate school. (500 characters)

6. Please indicate your overall recommendation for this candidate

Highly recommend

Recommend

Recommend with reservations

Do not recommend

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/umd-smith-recommendation-questions-2017-2018/feed/0464840Admissions Director Q&A: Rodrigo Malta of the University of Texas’s McCombs School of Businesshttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/admissions-director-qa-rodrigo-malta-university-texass-mccombs-school-business-2/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/admissions-director-qa-rodrigo-malta-university-texass-mccombs-school-business-2/#respondWed, 16 Aug 2017 17:23:34 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464820Rodrigo Malta, a native of Brazil, moved to the United States for high school and college and ultimately graduated from the McCombs School of Business full-time MBA program in 2007. While a student at McCombs, he was highly involved in admissions activities, and after graduation he remained in Austin, accepting a marketing position with Dell.

A little over a year later, when then-Director of MBA Admissions Tina Mabley contacted him about a job opening with her team—as associate director of admissions focused on diversity recruiting—he jumped at the chance to return to campus and work on something he was really passionate about. Later, when Mabley was promoted to assistant dean for the full-time MBA program, Malta applied for and got the admissions director’s position in 2010.

Prospective applicants may be happy to learn that Malta understands their position on such a personal level. This empathy might also be why he’s so forthcoming with useful tips and advice. Read on to learn what he has to share—including exciting plans for the new home of the Texas MBA, the many experiential learning opportunities that complement classroom time, and more.

Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at McCombs this coming year?

Rodrigo Malta: It’s a really big and exciting development to move into our new building: Rowling Hall. It’s going to be the new home for our MBA program within the UT campus, and it’s a great way to ring in the New Year. It will be open for business in Spring 2018.

Right now, McCombs is comprised of two buildings: the main academic building, which we share with the undergraduate students, and the conference center and hotel on the edge of campus. The new building is going to be connected to the school’s Executive Center and Hotel, and it’s going to be a really amazing structure with a ton of space for collaboration—making sure that those spontaneous connections happen where our students interact with other graduate students and alumni, etc.

There’s a lot of use of glass in Rowling Hall. The idea is for people to feel connected and to give visibility to everything that happens in the school. On the ground floor of the new building, you’re going to have a showcase of a lot of our research centers within the business school. There will also be many different types of classrooms, a ton of study rooms and collaboration space, space for an incubator (for businesses from some of our graduates), a café, etc.

The idea is that Rowling Hall becomes a gateway between the university and the city of Austin. With that community space, we want to have the community of Austin, other graduate students, and more to interact with our MBAs.

CA: What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?

RM: I always like to highlight our Fellows Programs. More than 50 percent of our full-time incoming students self-identify as career-switchers. The Fellows Programs are great experiential opportunities for students to put their knowledge into action and to put something on their resume that signals that career switch.

We have more than over seven Fellows Programs in different industries and functional areas. The way that they work is that there is usually an academic component (in the classroom with a group of students going deep into a particular area) and an experiential learning piece, which sees the students working with a company or an organization to put into practice what they’re learning in the classroom.

One program I’d like to highlight is the Venture Fellows program. In this program, 20 or so students take a class about venture capital (VC) and, while they’re taking that class during their second semester, they also intern at a VC firm here in Austin. The students work hand-in-hand with folks in the VC world, evaluating business plans, advising VC firms, and learning hands-on. With the VC world being a world of connections, it’s a great way for our students to get plugged into Austin as well.

CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks “submit” and the time the committee offers a final decision (e.g. how many “reads” does it get, how long is each “read,” who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.).

RM: At McCombs, we have three rounds. If an applicant submits their application a month before their round, we’re not going to look at that application until after that round deadline has passed. We won’t review any application for the round until the application deadline. If they submit a month early, it won’t be reviewed until after the round closes. So, we recommend that students make sure to use all the time they need before hitting submit.

Once they hit the submit button and that deadline passes, we usually do an overview read of the applicant files with all hands on deck. Several of us take a look at the files and make the initial interview decision. We usually divide the applicants by ‘Yes,’ ‘Maybe,’ and ‘No.’ We try to release as many of the ‘Yes’ responses as soon as possible to give the applicants plenty of time to interview, and while the applicants that are invited to interview are getting ready for interviews, the admissions team is reading more applications.

We usually do the application reads from home, so that the admissions team can really focus on being immersed in the applications. Three to four weeks before the decision release for that particular round, we start to meet as a committee. We bring everyone together, lock ourselves in a room, and go through a discussion of all of the applicants. It’s also during that discussion that we talk about possible scholarship awards. That way when an applicant receives an admissions decision from McCombs they also receive a scholarship decision at the same time.

That admissions committee period is a very intense three to four weeks.

CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read the essays? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write them?

RM: First and foremost, we’re always looking for the applicant to answer the essay prompt. This is my biggest pet peeve and it seems to be something that is easily solved. Whenever you’re submitting an essay response to the prompt, make sure you’re answering the question being asked.

We understand that applicants are exploring a lot of different schools and applying to a lot of different programs, which they should be because you want to have options, but during the application process the essay is the main vehicle available for you to speak to us in your own voice and let us know why the MBA program is right for you. You don’t want to lose or mess up this opportunity. A lot of the essays from McCombs revolve around, “Why a Texas MBA?” and “Why UT specifically?” We want to know what you think. One of the common mistakes I see is applicants trying to repackage an essay from another school and it ends up not answering the question being asked or being so generic that it doesn’t really offer any value.

We also have a unique essay where we give the applicant the option to choose between writing an essay or submitting a video answer to the prompt. I always tell candidates that we really don’t prefer one medium to another. It’s up to the applicant to pick the medium they’re most comfortable with. The whole genesis of the video essay was to give applicants more ways to put their best first foot forward.

Overall, close to 30 percent of our applicant pool chooses to do a video, so the majority are still writing essays. And, for the videos, we see a range of production values. There is no difference between admit rates when looking at written versus video or high production values versus something that you do with your iPhone camera. I enjoy any essay response that is done well.

CA: Is there anything else you’d like to share about McCombs or the application process?

RM: We have several UT and UT MBA alums in our admissions student services and career teams. We bleed Burnt Orange. You can never tell us enough about how you want to go to school here and why. That “why” piece is really important. You should demonstrate the research you do about why McCombs is the right school for you. It’s something that we are looking extra hard to see.

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/admissions-director-qa-rodrigo-malta-university-texass-mccombs-school-business-2/feed/04648203 Ways to Make the Most of Your GMAT Practice Testhttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/3-ways-make-gmat-practice-test/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/3-ways-make-gmat-practice-test/#respondWed, 16 Aug 2017 07:03:11 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464763Taking practice tests is an essential component of your GMAT study regimen. But it’s not the mere act of taking the test that provides you with your greatest opportunity for improvement. Sure, taking the test is helpful: it exposes you to more practice problems, forces you to consider pacing and work under timed pressure, and trains your mind and body for the 3.5 hours you’ll spend testing at the test center. More importantly, however, your practice tests provide you with a blueprint for your performance; they show you how you perform under those timed, labor-intensive conditions and, in doing so, shows you where you can stand to improve the most.

Analyzing and then acting upon those results, then, is where you stand to gain the most ground. When you analyze your practice test performance, keep the following in mind:

Categorize and prioritize your mistakes.

Not all incorrect answers are created equal. Some are questions that you should have gotten right. You made a careless error, or you fell for a trap answer, or you blanked on a concept that you should have been able to figure out. These errors should go in your must-fix category – these are easy points on the test that you’re giving back because of easily correctable mistakes. Put these at the top of your list, and avoid the temptation to write these off as “silly mistakes” that won’t happen again. If it happened once, it’s something that you need to be aware of and double-check for.

Another mistake category is things that you know you could get right in the future. Upon reading the solution, you realize that it wasn’t as hard as it looked, and you just need to brush up on that concept or practice more with that question type. These should be the errors that you address next – plan on study sessions that drill those concepts so that you see them more quickly and clearly on future questions. Seek out more practice questions of that category so that your muscle memory becomes second-nature and you feel comfortable with those problems. Find articles or videos on the topic or look into a tutor or study partner to help you better understand what’s currently just outside your grasp. These points aren’t “easy,” but they’re well within reach if you prioritize them.

Then there are those questions you look at and realize that maybe someday you’d get them right, but not anytime soon. The answer explanation doesn’t make much sense and even with unlimited time you don’t think you’d feel comfortable with a problem like this on test day. Here’s where you have to summon your inner Elsa (of “Frozen” fame) and just “let it go…” for the time being. It may seem counter-intuitive to leave your biggest weaknesses behind, but think like an MBA – the return-on-investment of your time on these topics is the lowest. An hour of studying on the “could get right” category mentioned above probably gets you another question or two right; an hour on these “maybe someday” problems may not move the needle at all.

Understand why you made the mistake, not just what topic the question was about.

The most convenient and most popular way to categorize your mistake is to scan at a surface level and say “I missed 2 geometry questions, 3 algebra questions, 1 permutations problem, etc.” Which isn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s woefully incomplete. Sometimes you miss a geometry question not because you didn’t understand the triangle formulas but because the last step was to calculate the percent increase (if it doubled, that means 100% of the original was added) and not the percent of (double is 200% of the original). For that type of mistake, studying geometry isn’t going to fix it; you need to better recognize what the question is asking for. Other times you may make a mistake on a content area but again not because you didn’t understand the algebra or probability, but because you fell for a common Data Sufficiency trap.

The key to effective analysis is to spend that extra minute or two asking why you got the problem wrong. The content area is important, and often you will miss problems because you just didn’t know the rule or because your algebra skills just aren’t where they need to be. But many of the mistakes in the “should get right” and “could get right” categories come down to other parts of your thought process, so it’s helpful to note those areas so that you spend your time addressing them head-on.

Be realistic when assessing your pacing

One of the most common reasons for underperformance is pacing: “I didn’t bomb the GMAT…I just ran out of time and had to start guessing.” But pacing is one of those things that isn’t likely to just fix itself, and the most obvious fix – “I’ll just get faster” – isn’t as easy as it sounds. So when you assess your pacing, you should ask yourself a few questions:

Which problems can you realistically solve faster, and where will those time savings come? Can you train yourself to see the concept more quickly? Do you see where you can combine or avoid certain steps in the future?

On which problems do you actually need to slow down? The problem with just “going faster” is that it leaves you vulnerable to those silly/careless mistakes on problems that you really should get right. So even if your goal is to speed up, you should look at which problems you really can’t afford to rush on. Which then means you need to ask:

Which problems just aren’t worth the time? Wherever you spend more than 3 minutes and still get it wrong, you need to ask whether that’s a concept you “could get right” or whether it’s something that you need to guess on in the future so that you save time for the problems that you’ll get correct given adequate time.

A proper assessment of pacing – particularly as you get closer to test day and substantial improvement becomes more fleeting – is one that’s realistic and includes not just places where you can speed up but also those areas where you need to slow down or just realize that it’s not worth the time.

In summary, taking practice tests is a huge step toward GMAT success, but quality analysis of your performance on those practice tests takes it that much further. The best thing about practice tests is that they give you a “scouting report” on your test performance and provide you with specific areas for improvement. Use those practice test results wisely, and you’ll be ready for peak performance when the score really counts.

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/3-ways-make-gmat-practice-test/feed/0464763How Business School Helped Amanda Knox Producer Earn an Emmy Nominationhttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/business-school-amanda-knox-producer/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/business-school-amanda-knox-producer/#respondTue, 15 Aug 2017 20:46:45 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464777Learning about the business side of filmmaking isn’t one of the more common reasons to pursue an MBA, but it’s exactly why Stephen Robert Morse attended Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. It was through this experience that Morse went on to produce the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, which explores the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, as well as Knox’s resulting imprisonment, retrials, and eventual acquittal. The film has been nominated for an Emmy award in the category of Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, “Without doubt this strong documentary sheds a powerful light on this particular case while emphasizing the ultimate unknowability of absolute truth.” While Benjamin Lee of The Guardian said, “It’s a carefully balanced and frightening film with Knox a terrifyingly unknowable character at the grisly center.”

Of the nomination, the Amanda Knox producer said in a press release, “I actually found out about our nomination through one of my MBA classmates. It was a fantastic surprise. I’m very proud of the film we made, and this nomination is a reflection on our hard work.”

As for Morse’s time as an MBA and how it inspired him in his filmmaking, it started with a lesson on lean production techniques taught by Operations Management Professor Matthias Holweg. This lesson inspired Morse and fellow MBA student Maria Springer to take a different approach to the film industry and found OBSERVATORY, a venture capital fund for the nonfiction film and TV industry.

“We’ve produced two films since we left Oxford. One we’re calling Wilders or EuroTrump depending on the market, and the other is called Freedom for the Wolf. Both are OBSERVATORY products and both used lean production techniques for maximum efficiency, which means we maintain great quality while keeping costs down,” Morse said.

But that’s not the only impact the MBA has had on Morse’s career. He also uses his alumni network whenever he has a business problem and needs advice. “To have that network of people who you can call on, and they can call on you, is one of the key benefits to the program,” Morse added.

Application Volume Increases
HBS clearly outperformed Kellogg in terms of application volume. At HBS, applications rose from 9,759 in 2015-2016 to 10,351 in 2016-2017, a 6 percent increase. The school maintained its stringent 11 percent acceptance rate, second only to Stanford’s, which has historically hovered around the 6-percent mark. Total enrollment this year is 941, down from 942 last year. According to the school, yield this year was 91 percent, which means more than nine of 10 accepted students decided to enroll.

At Kellogg, applications rose a more modest 1 percent over last year. Melissa Rapp, Kellogg director of admissions, characterized application volume as “steady” in an interview with Clear Admit earlier this summer. The single percentage point increase included slight upticks in domestic applicants as well as those from some international markets, which offset declines in applicants from other international markets, she says. Applications totaled 4,553 last year, which puts this year’s number closer to 4,600. Overall, 478 students comprise the incoming class, up from 474 in the Class of 2019.

Kellogg Continues Its GMAT Ascent
But where GMAT scores are concerned, Kellogg outshone HBS. HBS reported a median GMAT score of 730—identical to the two prior years. HBS does not share average GMAT score data, but it does reveal that the middle 80 percent of the class submitted scores between 700 and 770.

Kellogg, which shares average GMAT score, saw this metric rise another four points over last year, to 732. It’s the continuation of a multi-year increase for the Evanston school that just five years ago had an average GMAT score of 708. Its meteoric rise places it second only to Stanford Graduate School of Business where this metric is concerned, barring significant jumps at other schools that have not yet reported average scores for the incoming class. (Stanford GSB doesn’t release its incoming class profile until later in the fall, but last year’s average GMAT score was 737.) Kellogg’s overall GMAT score range was between 600 and 780. Last year, the range was 690 to 760—but last year’s data only reflects the middle 80 percent range, before Kellogg started reporting full range.

Undergraduate GPA, Major
In terms of average undergraduate GPA, HBS saw slight gains over last year, up to 3.71 from 3.67. At Kellogg, average GPA stayed the same as last year, at 3.6. As for what applicants studied while in college, both schools showed a greater preference for business backgrounds this year than last. At HBS, 45 percent of the incoming class majored in business or economics, up from 41 percent the year before. STEM majors were next, at 36 percent, with humanities majors bringing up the rear at just 19 percent. (Last year, STEM majors accounted for 38 percent, humanities majors, 21 percent.) At Kellogg, 49 percent of this year’s incoming class majored in business or economics, up from 45 percent of the previous class. STEM majors, meanwhile, made up 30 percent (up from 29 percent the year before), and humanities majors rounded out the class, at 26 percent (compared to 28 percent last year).

Class Diversity Similar at Both Schools
In terms of class diversity, both Kellogg and HBS will welcome incoming classes that are 42 percent women, down slightly from 43 percent at HBS and up slightly from 41 percent at Kellogg. Forty-three percent has thus far proven the high-water mark at both institutions.

At HBS, 35 percent of the class is international, and 26 percent belongs to U.S. ethnic minorities—mirroring last year’s stats. Kellogg’s incoming class is also 35 percent international, though U.S. minorities are 25 percent, a percentage point decline since last year. Still, Kellogg notes that this year’s class is among the school’s most diverse ever.

At HBS, the incoming class counts students from 70 countries, though 69 percent of students are from North America and 65 percent are from the United States. Students from Asia make up 14 percent of the class, with Europeans comprising another 10 percent. Student from Central and South America make up another 4 percent of the class, and 2 percent—or 16 students—hail from Africa.

Varied Professional Experience
Both schools tout the varied professional experience represented by the incoming class. At HBS, those from a consulting background make up 16 percent of the class, followed closely by venture capital and private equity, which each comprise another 15 percent. The financial services category makes up 11 percent, followed by government/education/nonprofit, healthcare/biotech, and other services (each at 7 percent); consumer products and energy (6 percent each), and finally manufacturing and military (each at 5 percent). HBS shared that the average age of those in the incoming class is 27, though no details about average years of work experience were made available.

HBS Touts Its Diversity in Video Entitled “Mosaic of Perspectives”

Kellogg, meanwhile, shows a greater predilection toward applicants from a consulting background, who make up 27 percent of this year’s incoming class. Applicants who have worked in financial services follow, at 20 percent; “other” makes up 14 percent, and those from a tech/communications background make up 12 percent. Other less represented backgrounds include government/education/nonprofit and healthcare/bio (each 7 percent), consumer products (6 percent), military (3 percent), manufacturing (2 percent), and energy (1 percent). Average work experience at Kellogg this year is 5.1 years, with 80 percent of the class having between 3.5 and 7 years. The average age of the incoming class is 28.

Rapp expressed great enthusiasm about both the diversity and high quality of the group of students who are just now arriving on campus, noting that theirs will be the first class that will get to enjoy Kellogg’s gorgeous new Global Hub for their entire time in business school. “As we do every year, we looked for leaders that are focused on collaborating to create impact and lasting value wherever they go—before Kellogg, during their time at Kellogg, and in the future,” she said. “Our comprehensive approach to admissions enables us to attract an incredibly well-rounded group of students to Kellogg. The quality of the applicant pool has increased this year, and the quality of our accepted students is commensurate with that.”

Chad Losee, HBS managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid, shared fewer words but no less enthusiasm. “So hard to capture the talent and diversity of perspectives in this group. They are amazing!” he wrote on his Director’s Blog.

]]>https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/class-2019-profiles-hbs-kellogg-reveal-chances-admission/feed/0464761ApplyWire Spotlight: Applying to Business School for Healthcarehttps://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/applywire-spotlight-applying-business-school-healthcare/
https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/08/applywire-spotlight-applying-business-school-healthcare/#respondTue, 15 Aug 2017 07:00:10 +0000https://www.clearadmit.com/?p=464697MBA applicants are figuring out their target schools for Round 1 and sharing their plans on ApplyWire, Clear Admit’s latest tool to aid in your admissions process. This week, we’re setting the spotlight on a candidate interested in healthcare/pharma targeting six schools. We take a closer look at his plans in applying to Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, and UPenn / Wharton. Read on for more details about the candidate’s background.

Feedback on his profile started off on a positive note:

But then a community member was concerned about what tends to be a staple of MBA applications:

Another member reminded the applicant to consider the value of his extracurricular activities:

The healthcare hopeful then followed up with further details:

A community member then returned to elaborate:

Best of luck with your applications!

Readying your applications? Do you know which business schools you will be applying to? Share your story on ApplyWire. It’s completely anonymous and only takes a minute to complete.